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Video: JJ Watt raises Harvey fundraising goal to $10M

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The Houston Texans star began his fundraising effort with his own $100,000 donation and keeps raising the bar thanks to the generosity of his social media followers.

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A man stole 1 million dollars worth of equipment in a military base in Kentucky and tried to sell it on ebay. he tried to ship a fighter pilots helmet across seas but got caught because he didn't have the right permit to ship that far

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More than $1 million of U.S. military equipment was stolen from a base in Kentucky and sold on eBay, according to testimony from a federal trial this week.

John Roberts, a 27-year-old from Clarksville, Tennessee, testified Wednesday that he didn't know the equipment he received was stolen.

"I didn't try to hide anything," Roberts said Wednesday. "That's why I filed taxes on everything I sold on eBay. I thought it was okay."

The equipment - some of which was resold to buyers in Russia, China, Mexico, Hong Kong, Kazakhstan and Ukraine - included machine gun and rifle parts, helmets, guns, medical equipment, gun sights, body army and more.

Roberts said soldiers from Fort Campbell told him the equipment was legally purchased from other soldiers, or that the Army was throwing the equipment out, The Tennessean reported. He also said he didn't know that he needed to have a license to export certain items overseas.

But a former business partner of Roberts', Cory Wilson, testified that the two would find soldiers selling military items through classified ads or on Facebook, and ask them for more expensive or harder-to-find items.

Wilson and Roberts shared a warehouse in Clarksville where they stored the equipment, but Roberts said they were not sharing funds. Roberts said the two just had a shared interest in selling things on eBay.

The men removed packaging on the equipment that identified it as government property and used fake descriptions on shipping labels to avoid suspicion, Wilson said.

Wilson pleaded guilty to buying and selling stolen military equipment, wire fraud and violating the Arms Export Control Act.

In 2014, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency notified Roberts that it had seized a military flight helmet he tried to ship overseas. The Customs letter noted that he was required to have a license to export that item. Roberts said he didn't remember reading that paragraph.

Michael Barlow, a former Fort Campbell platoon sergeant who pleaded guilty to theft of government property and conspiracy, testified that they started small, but eventually escalated to truckloads of military equipment. He said Roberts even gave him a "Christmas list" of items he wanted the soldiers to steal in Afghanistan and bring back to the United States.

The scheme allegedly operated from 2013 until 2016.

Roberts is being tried in Nashville on charges of wire fraud, conspiracy to steal and sell government property and violating the Arms Export Control Act. Six soldiers and his civilian business partner made plea deals in exchange for their testimony.

A 14-member jury will hear closing arguments and begin deliberations in the case on Thursday.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Stolen military equipment worth more than $1M sold on eBay, testimony reveals

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More than $1 million of U.S. military equipment was stolen from a base in Kentucky and sold on eBay, according to testimony from a federal trial this week. John Roberts, a 27-year-old from Clarksville, Tennessee, testified Wednesday that he didn't know the equipment he received was stolen.

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Us fighter bombing over Korean peninsula. two days later after Korea flew a missile over japan .

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Four US F-35B fighter jets joined two US B-1B bombers and four South Korean F-15 fighter jets in the joint US-South Korean flyover of the Korean Peninsula, an official with the South Korean air force told CNN.

The exercise was designed to "strongly counter North Korea's repeated ballistic missile tests and development of nuclear weapons," the official said.

In a statement, the air force said the US bombers flew out of Guam and four stealth fighter jets from a US Marine Corps base in Japan.

They conducted a mock bombing drill, which simulated a surgical strike of key enemy facilities, over the Pilsung Range in the eastern province of Gangwon.

In a statement, US Pacific Command said the flyover was a "direct response to North Korea's intermediate range ballistic missile launch."

"North Korea's actions are a threat to our allies, partners and homeland, and their destabilizing actions will be met accordingly," said Gen. Terrence O'Shaughnessy, commander of Pacific Air Forces.

North Korea labeled the flyover "a rash act," according to KCNA, the country's state news agency.

It said that the "wild military acts of the enemies" were as a result of the county's recent ballistic missile launch.

Show of force

Thursday's flyover follows North Korea's latest weapons test, the first ballistic missile fired over Japan, though various stages of rockets carrying satellites have landed to Japan's east and south.

North Korea has been test-firing missiles at a rapid clip this year. With each launch, experts say Pyongyang can further refine and perfect its missile technology.

The bomber flights are a common response to North Korean actions that the United States and its allies perceive as hostile.

B-1s flew over the Korean Peninsula following both of Pyongyang's successful tests of intercontinental ballistic missiles, the type of weapons designed to deliver nuclear warheads to far-off locations such as the US mainland.

The bombers flew from Andersen Air Force Base on Guam, the closest US territory to North Korea and the target of North Korean threats in recent weeks.

The state-run Korean Central News Agency said that Tuesday's missile launch was "a meaningful prelude to containing Guam," which it called the "advanced base of invasion" for US forces.

In a follow-up statement Thursday, the agency promised future launches "targeting the Pacific, where the US imperialist aggressor forces' bases are stationed."

"It should not be forgotten even a moment that the whole of South Korea can turn into ruins," the statement said.

South Korea and the United States are currently engaged in joint military exercises, which kicked off last week. The annual exercises always infuriate Pyongyang, and some have called for them to be called off or scaled back as a show of good faith that might bring North Korean leader Kim Jong Un back to the negotiating table.

At a news conference Thursday, Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokeswoman Hua Chunying seemed to be referring to the largely simulated drills when she said the situation in the Korean Peninsula "is not like a movie script or computer game."

"It is real. It exists," she said. "It is an important and serious issue that directly affects people's safety in the South and North. And it also affects the peace of the whole region. We hope every side makes rational judgments and wise decisions in a responsible manner for the people and regional peace and stability. "

Advanced fighter jet

The F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, the most expensive and one of the most controversial weapons systems in US history, is held out as "the cornerstone" of US defense in the Pacific.

Based at a US base in Iwakuni, the first of 16 fighters arrived in Japan in January, showing Washington's "commitment to the defense of Japan with the most capable and modern equipment in the US inventory," a US Marines official told CNN at the time.

According to the Marines, the deployment of the fighters to Japan was ordered under the Obama administration, and was not related to ongoing tensions with North Korea.

Nevertheless, analysts said the fighters' presence in Japan sends a strong message, and the country's Ministry of Defense claimed they increased Japan's deterrent capability amid an "increasingly severe" security environment.

Following North Korea's recent missile launch, President Donald Trump called Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and said the "US stands with Japan 100%."

"I would like to make the utmost effort to protect the lives and assets of the Japanese people under a strong alliance between Japan and US," Abe recounted Trump saying after the call.

The F-35 stealth fighters would be a key part of any US pre-emptive strike on North Korea designed to neutralize the country's defensive and counterstrike capabilities, Jerry Hendrix, a retired Navy captain and senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security, told CNN earlier this month.

Countering North Korea's relatively formidable surface-to-air missile defense capabilities, stealth American F-22s, F-35s and B-2 bombers would likely lead a joint air campaign with the help of Japanese and South Korean F-15 or F-16 fighters, he said.

Corey Wallace, a security analyst at Freie University in Berlin, told CNN the use of the F-35s out of Japan showed the United States had various options for potentially striking North Korea.

"(Washington has) platforms from Guam and Japan linking up and operating together over South Korea with South Korean assets, with all of the governments supporting this," he said.

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us stealth fighters show of force over korean peninsula - cnnpolitics

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Taehoon Lee, James Griffiths and Joshua Berlinger, CNN

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US fighter jets stage mock bombing drill over Korean Peninsula

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Four US F-35B fighter jets joined two US B-1B bombers and four South Korean F-15 fighter jets in the joint US-South Korean flyover of the Korean Peninsula, an official with the South Korean air force told CNN. The exercise was designed to "strongly counter North Korea's repeated ballistic missile tests and development of nuclear weapons," the official said.

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3 year old Jordyn Grace was holding her mom as she was suffering from hypothermia. The mom passed away as Jordyn survived.

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HOUSTON - Shivering from hypothermia, little Jordyn Grace was clutching her mother's unresponsive body as the floodwaters rose around her. A rescue team in a Zodiac boat, on the lookout for those in distress in Beaumont, Tex., spotted the small pink backpack the girl was wearing and pulled her and her mother aboard.

"Mama was saying her prayers," the 3-year-old, recovering on Wednesday in a Beaumont hospital, told a relative, Antionette Logan, 38.

"Jordyn told me they were in the yucky water for quite a while," Ms. Logan said. "It's a tragedy that her mama died, but it's a miracle that Jordyn survived."
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With the death toll from Hurricane Harvey climbing to 38, those who survived the storm are just now learning the names of those who did not and the terrible ways in which they died. Some episodes are particularly haunting, like the tale of Jordyn and her mother Colette Sulcer, 41, a nurse who died on Tuesday in the flooding in Beaumont, about 100 miles from waterlogged Houston, as her daughter clung to her body.

Most of the victims identified so far also drowned: Agnes Stanley, 89, who was found floating in four feet of water inside her Houston home, where she lived alone; Alexander Sung, 64, a clockmaker in South Houston, who died in his beloved store after trying to rescue merchandise; Joshua Feuerstein, 33, who the police said drove around a barricade, a fatal mistake. Sgt. Steve Perez, 60, a veteran police officer in Houston, drove into a flooded underpass on his way to the station.

Then there were the deaths of Manuel Saldivar, 84, and Belia Saldivar, 81, and their four great-grandchildren: Daisy, 6; Xavier, 8; Dominic, 14; and Devy, 16, who were found in a partly submerged van in Greens Bayou.

The couple's son, Sammy Saldivar, was driving the van and managed to escape through a window, watching helplessly as it disappeared under the water. The authorities were first alerted to the van around 10 a.m. on Sunday when they heard the screams of Mr. Saldivar, who was clinging to a tree after climbing through the partly open driver's side window.

Harvey killed in other ways too. In Montgomery County, Lisa Jones, 60, had just lain down for a nap in her bedroom when a tree fell through the roof, crushing her. Her husband was in the living room, helpless to reach her through the debris until firefighters arrived.

In a region where it is difficult to find a person without a harrowing story to tell, the story of Jordyn, the 3-year-old who saw her mother die, moved all who heard it. But it hit hardest within the large Beaumont family of nurses, pastors and military veterans who are relatives of Ms. Sulcer and her daughter and who live not far from them.

Ms. Sulcer, a surgical nurse, and her only daughter had tried to escape the flooding Tuesday in their car, taking a service road of Interstate 10. But the water caught up with them.

Relatives described Ms. Sulcer as a dedicated nurse who entered the profession after the death years ago of her mother, who was also a nurse.

"We're a service family that takes pride in giving back to our community," said Ms. Logan, also a nurse.

Ms. Logan said she and others in the family often referred to Ms. Sulcer by a nickname, Nan Nan, adding that she enjoyed caring for her daughter, traveling, watching cooking shows and listening to music.

Ms. Sulcer had recently driven to Houston to attend a concert of the British singer Ed Sheeran, and had kept in touch with relatives and friends through social media, texting and by phone. She kept them updated on Tuesday about efforts to escape the flooding. Then the messages suddenly stopped.

"We're in absolute shock," said Vanessa Jackson, 58, a cousin who is a retiree in Beaumont. "You hear about stories like this in other places, other people's lives. Not here, not us."

The goal now was to calm a traumatized child. "We just need to be focused now on little Jordyn, who experienced something none of us should," Ms. Jackson said.

Another cousin, Sylvia Allison, 24, described Jordyn as "the only girl in our family of all boys, our lil tomboy at its finest." In a post on Facebook, Ms. Allison expressed her grief, saying, "Our special little miracle, you survived all that water for hours holding on to my cousin."

"I'm really having a hard time understanding today right now," she wrote.

Michael LaBouef, a longtime friend of Ms. Sulcer's who worked with her at the Medical Center of Southeast Texas in Port Arthur, said that the tragedy devastated the staff at the 224-bed hospital.

"I always called her baby girl," said Mr. LaBouef, a retired surgical assistant. "Her smile, I mean, the room just lit up. You couldn't help but smile back."

"I never did see that girl in a bad mood," he continued. "I never saw her upset or mad. And she didn't have the life of leisure that would give her such a positive attitude. But she built on her adversity instead of letting it knock her down."

Co-workers at the hospital had texted and talked to Ms. Sulcer on Tuesday morning as the rains were battering Beaumont. "And one time she said, well, it looks like the weather is going to break, and we're going stir crazy so we're going to go out," Mr. LaBouef said.

The Beaumont Police Department said that Ms. Sulcer and her daughter pulled into a parking lot when the waters began to rise, and then left their car. At some point, the police said, they were swept into a canal and ended up floating about half a mile.

At that point, it was too late for Ms. Sulcer. But even as she succumbed to the floodwaters, she never let go of her daughter.

Her friends kept on trying to contact her, Mr. LaBouef said, but "they got no answer."

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Clinging to Her Drowning 'Mama,' a Little Girl Survives the Raging Flood

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HOUSTON - Shivering from hypothermia, little Jordyn Grace was clutching her mother's unresponsive body as the floodwaters rose around her. A rescue team in a Zodiac boat, on the lookout for those in distress in Beaumont, Tex., spotted the small pink backpack the girl was wearing and pulled her and her mother aboard.

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JJ Watts meets his goal for hurricane harvey. He has made 10 million dollars.

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Video: JJ Watt raises Harvey fundraising goal to $10M

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The Houston Texans star began his fundraising effort with his own $100,000 donation and keeps raising the bar thanks to the generosity of his social media followers.

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A couple has claimed that the Solar Eclipse glasses Amazon had sold them where defective, the couple both experienced distorted vision, eye watering, and blurriness.

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Amazon.com has been hit with a proposed class action lawsuit by a couple who claims defective eclipse glasses purchased through the online retailer damaged their eyes.

In the lawsuit, filed in federal court in South Carolina on Tuesday evening, Corey Payne and his fiancée, Kayla Harris, said they purchased a three-pack of eclipse glasses on Amazon in early August, assuming that the glasses would allow them to safely view the United States' first coast-to-coast total solar eclipse in a century on Aug. 21.

Later that day, Payne and Harris began to experience headaches and eye watering. In the following days, they developed vision impairment, including blurriness and distorted vision, their lawsuit said.

Amazon did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the lawsuit.

The couple said they did not look into the sky without wearing the glasses when they viewed the eclipse.

Starting on August 10, Amazon said it began to email customers to issue a recall of potentially hazardous solar eclipse glasses it was unable to verify as having been manufactured by reputable companies. Amazon did not disclose the scale of the recall or a list of affected vendors.

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Payne and Harris said they did not receive notice of the recall. They are seeking to represent other customers who never received a warning from Amazon and suffered similar injuries from the company's alleged negligence.

Experts cautioned the public to steer clear of unsafe counterfeits flooding the United States in the runup to the event. While no data exists for how many eclipse glasses were in circulation overall, shady distributors of purportedly solar-safe shades abound on the Internet, experts said.

(Reporting by Tina Bellon; Editing by Anthony Lin and Cynthia Osterman)

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Amazon hit with lawsuit over eclipse glasses

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Amazon.com has been hit with a proposed class action lawsuit by a couple who claims defective eclipse glasses purchased through the online retailer damaged their eyes.

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Deputy Robert French died from a gunshot wound while Sheriff Scott Jones was by his side. Two   women jumped into a stolen vehicle and were chased for 20 miles when officers learned that they were staying in Ramada Inn. The officers knocked on the door and a gunman opened fire through the door and wall.

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Associated Press 6 hrs ago By JONATHAN J. COOPER, Associated Press

SACRAMENTO, Calif. - One law-enforcement officer was killed and two others wounded when a gunman carrying a high-powered rifle shot through the door of his hotel room, then leapt out over a balcony and led police on a brief chase.

He was captured minutes later when he crashed and was wounded by responding officers Wednesday.

Hotel guests were trapped in their rooms for most of the day as police methodically cleared the area and confirmed no other gunmen stayed behind in the hotel room.

Deputy Robert French, a 21-year veteran of the Sacramento County Sheriff's Department, died from a gunshot wound to his side, Sheriff Scott Jones said.

"It was an extremely dynamic, horrific series of events," Jones said.

The day began with a routine investigation by a car-theft task force involving officers from multiple agencies. Investigators suspected a car-theft ring was being run out of a Ramada Inn in an unincorporated neighborhood of Sacramento.

Two women who got into a stolen vehicle were chased for 20 miles before being apprehended in Elk Grove, south of Sacramento. Arresting officers learned they were staying at a room in the Ramada Inn.

When officers knocked on the door, a gunman opened fire through the door and walls, striking two California Highway Patrol officers before turning to the balcony, shooting French, who was outside monitoring the back door, and fleeing.

He was found with a rifle and high-capacity magazine, which are illegal to purchase in California, sheriff's Sgt. Tony Turnbull said.

The names of the wounded officers were not released. Jones said they were taken to a hospital and expected to survive.

Dozens of heavily armed officers from around the region searched the hotel for hours before determining that there were no other suspects inside.

It's unclear why the suspects responded so aggressively when police arrived, Turnbull said.

"Maybe that will come out in the investigation. Maybe we'll never know," Turnbull said. "Either way, it's irrational."

Jeff Marshall, who lives near the hotel, said he heard gunshots and then tires squealing and saw a gray Dodge speed by his home, going the wrong way down a busy street as vehicles and pedestrians scrambled to get out of the way.

"It was like the wild West," Marshall said.

The sheriff described French, 52, as a well-known, well-respected officer assigned to patrol the county's northern areas. He trained new officers and was a "go-to guy for advice and counsel, not just career advice but tactical advice and things like that," Jones said.

French is survived by his live-in girlfriend, adult children and grandchildren and a sister.

"Words aren't going to make an appropriate appreciation of him as a man or his career," Jones said.

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Gunman kills deputy, wounds 2 from California Highway Patrol

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Two women believed to be part of a stolen car ring led California police on a 20-mile chase Wednesday before pointing them to a Sacramento hotel where another suspect opened fire with an assault rifle in a shootout that left one officer dead and two others wounded, authorities said.

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Sebastian Telfair has been charged for some pretty major gun charges. He was found by a officer because his truck was parked illegally and he found a lit blunt so he was able to search the truck as he found two full  Ziploc bags of marijuana and a loaded .45-caliber semi-automatic pistol. Alongside it was a magazine holding an additional nine bullets.

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It was about 2:45 in the morning on Sunday, June 11, when officer Christian Valenzuela of the New York Police Department's 77th Precinct noticed the Ford F-150 with Florida plates. The truck was parked illegally, on the concrete median dividing the eastbound and westbound paths of Brooklyn's Atlantic Avenue, right off Classon Avenue. Two men sat in the front seat.

The car started to move as officer Valenzuela approached. Its headlights were off. According to the incident report, Valenzuela spotted a burning blunt, which gave him probable cause to search inside. He had the two men step out and popped open the truck's center console, where he found two Ziploc bags of marijuana and a loaded .45-caliber semi-automatic pistol. Alongside it was a magazine holding an additional nine bullets.

Valenzuela made his way to back of the truck to inspect the flatbed next. There, packed away inside an ottoman and a suitcase, lay more firepower than an individual would ever need: two semi-automatic pistols, one semi-automatic assault rifle, 296 bullets stuffed into seven ammo boxes and two magazines. The truck's driver was wearing a ballistic vest, too.

Both men were cuffed and placed under arrest. The passenger, Jami Thomas, was an 18-year-old kid from Brooklyn with no priors on his record. The driver was Thomas' cousin. When Valenzuela ran his name through the DMV's computer system, he discovered that this wasn't his first gun-related arrest. In 2008, the driver had been convicted of criminal possession of a weapon in the fourth degree. His license to drive in New York State had been suspended as a result.

And so Valenzuela loaded the two men, arrested on multiple weapons charges and for unlawful possession of marijuana, into his cruiser and drove them two miles east to his precinct. There, just 10 miles north of the Coney Island public houses where he grew up and the blue-paved outdoor court where he grew famous, the driver, Sebastian Telfair, likely wondered whether his freedom would soon be taken away.

SONNY VACCARO CAN still vividly recall the first time he met Sebastian Telfair. He can still picture the movie star smile. He describes it as "infectious" and Telfair as "Mr. Congeniality."

Telfair was "one of the most brilliant high school basketball players I've ever seen," Vaccaro told B/R.

It was 17 years ago, July 10, 2000. Vaccaro was 60 years old, and dozens of the country's top high school basketball prospects, and even more college and NBA coaches and scouts, had descended to the small, drab gym of Teaneck, New Jersey's Fairleigh Dickinson University for Vaccaro's then-annual ABCD Camp. Vaccaro-the former sneaker executive who inked Michael Jordan to his first deal with Nike and over the next 30 years morphed into one of the most powerful men in sports-formed the camp in 1984.

That summer, Bobby Hartstein, an assistant coach for the Brooklyn's Abraham Lincoln High School basketball team, was working at the camp. Hartstein had been around the Lincoln Railsplitters for years, coaching local legends like Stephon Marbury, who went on to become an NBA All-Star, and Marbury's cousin, Jamel Thomas, a former Providence College basketball star who moonlighted in the NBA for 12 games from 1999-2001. Over his years at Lincoln, Hartstein coached 13 members of the Telfair/Thomas/Marbury family, and he decided to bring the then-5'9" rail-thin eighth-grader along. He figured Telfair would benefit from meeting Vaccaro, watching the games and studying the players he'd soon be measured against.

But when one of the camp's attendees failed to show, Vaccaro, with his short, receding grey hair and Vegas wise guy face, turned to Hartstein.

"It's up to you," he said.

Hartstein relented. He said he'd be fine with Telfair practicing with a team the first day and seeing how it went. Vaccaro and his wife, Pam, a tall, blonde former model, beckoned Telfair to come down from the bleachers. Pam handed him a white uniform with an Adidas logo and the number one stitched onto the front. Telfair, ecstatic, wrapped both arms around her and planted a kiss on her cheek.

"It was probably the happiest smile I've ever seen in my life," Vaccaro recalls.

That night at practice, Telfair proved that despite his age, he was already one of the best prep players in the country. He spent the week running circles around players bigger and stronger than him. In one game, he even found himself matched up against a 6'6" freshman point guard from Akron, Ohio, named LeBron James. Telfair held his own, though, never backing down, never afraid to attack, never doubting that he belonged.

His star was born that summer, and over the next four years, it only rose. There were all-star games and New York City Public School Athletic League championships, national magazine covers, books and documentaries. Lincoln's games became New York City events and drew celebrities like Derek Jeter and JAY-Z. College coaches came calling, then NBA scouts started filling out the bleachers of Lincoln's Ocean Parkway gym.

"And even with all that, basketball was always just a joy to him," says Kenny Pretlow, an assistant coach at Lincoln.

Telfair first committed to play college ball at Louisville but soon after decided to jump straight to the NBA, where, despite his sub-six-foot frame, he was drafted 13th overall in 2004 by the Portland Trail Blazers. That roster spot came with a three-year, $5 million contract, more money than his family, in their Coney Island housing project, had ever seen. But back then, it was common for high school players to leapfrog college for the NBA. It was the six-year, $15 million shoe deal that Vaccaro and Adidas handed him that separated Telfair from the rest.

To this day, Vaccaro remembers Telfair clutching that ABCD uniform like a Christmas gift, then turning to him, Pam and Hartstein and sharing one final thought.

"I'll never let you guys down."

IN BROOKLYN, atthe 77th precinct on Utica Avenue, police took down Telfair's statements. He then called his mother, Erica, before being shipped with Thomas off to Brooklyn Criminal Court for arraignment. Erica-who still lives in the same third-floor apartment at Surfside Gardens on West 31st Street where Telfair and his nine siblings were raised-called her oldest son, Daniel Turner, to relay the troubling news.

Daniel lives one floor below Erica, so the two, he says, shared a cab to the courthouse. They were worried, but figured the arrest was a misunderstanding. This was their Sebastian, after all. Just the previous afternoon, he'd been sitting at Erica's kitchen table, telling her about his 12-year-old daughter Samaya and 10-year-old son, Sebastian Jr., and how he planned on taking his cousin, Jami Thomas, out shopping for sneakers to celebrate his high school graduation. He had been hoping to catch up with Turner, too. Telfair's annual Coney Island basketball tournament was scheduled for the next month, and Turner, as always, was helping organize the event. Their schedules didn't mesh that day, but they promised they'd see each other soon.

Neither thought it would be that night in a Brooklyn courthouse with a judge reading out the many crimes of which Telfair was accused.

Yet there he stood in a gray sweat suit and black high tops, the former basketball star and pride of Brooklyn, looking at all the family and friends that had filed into the courtroom to show their love and support. Erica and Daniel Turner were there, along with Telfair's wife and kids, among others. He locked eyes with all of them, even as many of theirs welled with tears. After being bailed out, he thanked them all for coming down. He was sad and appreciative of the support but also angry.

"I didn't do anything wrong," Turner remembers Telfair saying as they made their way toward the street. He recalls the look of fear and shame on his younger brother's face.

BEING SELECTED IN the first round of the NBA draft is supposed to be the beginning of a great career. For Telfair, it turned out to be the high point.

The All-Star Games he was supposed to make-he never played in one. The huge numbers he was supposed to put up-he never managed to average double figures in scoring for a season. Telfair did hang around the NBA for parts of 10 seasons and netted over $19 million in his career. But the brilliance that Vaccaro and so many others foresaw never came to be.

"The NBA wasn't really set up for 19-year-olds at that time," says Nate McMillan, who coached Telfair for a season in Portland.

Unlike now, per McMillan, when Telfair was drafted, there was no infrastructure to help teenagers acclimate to the league. There were no team-provided meals, no personnel to help kids like Telfair, someone forced to move 3,000 miles from home while his mother stayed back in Brooklyn to care for Telfair's sick dad.

"Also," McMillan adds, "Sebastian was a scoring point guard, and I think he was ahead of his time a bit with that."

This was before the NBA had instituted a set of rules to protect players of Telfair's speed and size.

Making the minefield in Portland even more dangerous was the jealousy festering inside the Blazers' locker room.

"Given all the hype coming in, Sebastian definitely had some teammates who looked at him differently," McMillan says.

A current NBA player who is a longtime friend of Telfair says the two have discussed this issue before.

"The guys on that team weren't good mentors for him," the player says.

As the years went by and his NBA journey became more meandering, Telfair found trouble off the court.

There was the night in October 2006 outside a Manhattan restaurant owned by Sean Combs when a $50,000 chain was snatched off Telfair's neck. That same night, in that same restaurant, the rapper Fabolous was shot in the left thigh. Police later told reporters that Telfair, who by then was a member of the Celtics, was being investigated for his role in the incident, though no charges were ever filed.

The following April, Telfair's name popped up in New York tabloids once again when a cop spotted him driving his Range Rover 32 mph over the speed limit on the Bronx River Parkway. Telfair's Florida license at the time was suspended, and while searching the vehicle, police found a loaded .45-caliber handgun tucked under the passenger seat. Telfair pleaded guilty to criminal possession of a weapon and received three years probation.

Four days later, Celtics owner Wyc Grousbeck had the nameplate above Telfair's locker removed.

Still, the worst had yet to come. According to a person with knowledge of the situation, the arrest gave Adidas the power to tear up Telfair's deal. A representative from Adidas declined to comment, citing the company's strict policy. But another individual with a strong understanding of Adidas' business said Telfair's deal likely did include a morality clause.

"Every indication would be that that contract had one and that the incident did violate it," this person said. "I'd assume the contract was made null and void."

BY 2014, TELFAIR had become just another hyped prospect turned NBA journeyman, with quiet stops in seven different locations over the same amount of years. After spending the 2013 season in China, Telfair was thrilled to be back in the NBA and finally playing for a playoff team in Oklahoma City, Turner says. This, Telfair thought, would be his shot. He got off to a strong start, too, averaging 8.4 points and 2.8 assists while helping fill the void that injured point guard Russell Westbrook had left behind. But 16 games into the season, with Westbrook on his way back, the Thunder elected to let Telfair go.

"That really hurt him," Daniel Turner says. "He was playing well and really excited about being on a playoff team. That was the most down I've seen him."

The decision, according to a former Thunder assistant coach, was basketball-related (OKC was outscored by 12.3 points per 100 possessions with Telfair on the court, per NBA.com). The Thunder had no issues with Telfair-they just didn't think he was very good. The rest of the league seemed to agree; Telfair hasn't appeared in an NBA game since.

Still, he wasn't ready to give up. He loved spending time with his wife and kids, swimming with them in the backyard pool of his Orlando mansion, cooking them pork chops and taking them shopping at local malls. He'd also started a fashion company, 99 Moves. But he could never escape the game's gravitational pull.

Sebastian Telfair @BassyS31T
Aspire to do more.. #Entrepreneur #99Moves http://t.co/FIQ22va9ny http://t.co/tdeeE0o2Pv
2014-11-30 02:46:02

Telfair returned to China in December 2014, then came back to Florida the following summer and started training in Miami's DBC Fitness, a frequent home to athletes like Dwyane Wade and LeBron James. To this day, he's kept a YouTube link of highlights from his short stint with the Thunder in the bio of his Twitter account, as if unable to accept that his NBA career has come to an end.

In May of this year, he texted with an old friend named Andrew Amigo, who had grown up in Brooklyn and played basketball at Lincoln. Amigo had since become a trainer and worked with Telfair's cousin Stephon Marbury and other professional athletes. Over the years, he and Telfair drifted a bit, but every now and then, Telfair would check in. Telfair told him that he was trying to give the NBA one more run and he wanted to know if Amigo would be open to working with him.

"I told him, 'Of course, just let me know,'" Amigo says.

He hasn't heard from him since.

TRYING TO PIECE together how Telfair passes the time now is akin to putting together a puzzle with only half its pieces.

Take 99 Moves for example. You can find the hashtag #99moves plastered all over his Instagram page. Telfair's friend, the current NBA player, says the company is "Sebastian's thing now, it's big." Telfair's brothers, Jamel Thomas and Turner, both mention the fashion line when asked how Telfair currently spends his time.

Thing is: Telfair hasn't linked to the website in two years (interview requests sent to the site's "Contact" section were not answered). The business has no phone number, no Twitter handle, no Instagram page. Do a Google search and the first result you'll find is not his fashion website, but instead a video of Telfair from October 2014. It's produced by a YouTube account belonging to a user named ProTips4u, a company that on its website says it specializes in helping "you become the best athlete, coach or trainer you can be." In the video, Telfair, wearing a white T-shirt with what appears to be a stylized 99 logo on his chest, explains the origin and business goals of his new venture:

"99 Moves is my company for financial education and marketing," he says, later adding, "[At] 99 moves, our main focus is to get the athletes involved in their finances. Don't be scared about it."

There's no mention of fashion.

A request for comment sent to the email address listed on PtoTips4u's website was answered by a man named Mark Leonard. Leonard was told Bleacher Report was working on a story on Sebastian Telfair. He didn't respond to that message, or multiple messages afterward.

Telfair, by all accounts, keeps a tight circle. There's his wife (who responded to Bleacher Report's initial request for an interview, but upon being informed of the story's subject, ceased answering text messages), his family, a few friends, Lincoln coach Dwayne "Tiny" Morton and maybe three former teammates.

Leonard might not fall into this group, but he wasn't the only one who was tight-lipped at the mention of Telfair's name. David Alexander, a Miami-based trainer Telfair was working out with as recently as last year, declined comment, even after being told that positive stories or comments about Telfair were welcomed. So did Rasheem "Bubba" Parker, a longtime friend of Telfair, who was delivered the same pitch. One of Telfair's former Lincoln teammates agreed to an interview, only to ignore three follow-up messages. Reached finally on Facebook, he responded that his own family didn't think it was a good idea for him to be interviewed.

"When it comes to Bassy, things are very sensitive," he wrote.

Morton said, seemingly half-facetiously, that he'd only speak if a contract were drawn up stating that Bleacher Report wouldn't publish any negative anecdotes.

"Tiny understands the media, the media can twist up your words and that can lead to people reading it the wrong way," Jamel Thomas said when asked why he thought Morton, and others, were so reticent to speak, even after being offered the opportunity to share encouraging thoughts. "You can say something positive about Sebastian, but words can be twisted, and then these guys still live and hang out in Coney Island. You don't want people to look at you and say, 'This guy was saying this or that about Sebastian or Coney Island.'"

So how does a 32-year-old married father of two, a man described by those who know him as both principled and kind, find himself with his teenage cousin in the front seat of an illegally parked car stocked with weapons and weed in the middle of the night?

Sebastian Telfair @BassyS31T
With the kids! http://t.co/tuSv5YoWVK http://t.co/NC2xVTxNsD
2014-11-20 17:22:02

"That's the question we're all trying to get answers to," Jamel Thomas says.

He says he's still waiting.

DANIEL TURNER IS cleaning up last night's poker game when he opens the door of his second-floor apartment. It's a scorching summer day in Coney Island, just four days before the neighborhood welcomes back Joey Chestnut and the rest of the world's top competitive eaters for the annual Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest held every Fourth of July.

Turner, who's wearing long basketball shorts and a fitted black and white workout shirt, takes a seat on his leather couch as his two teenage sons organize the living room. Pictures of his family hang on the wall, as well as a painting of the Brooklyn Bridge. In the doorway stands a brand-new green bike wrapped in white Styrofoam.

"We're raffling that off at the tournament," Turner says. "Next week an iPad. Sebastian always gets stuff to raffle for the kids."

Turner says he's unsure if his brother will attend the event, but he's hopeful. The participating teams are, too, except for one. According to Turner, that one dropped out after news of the arrest.

"I asked one lady from the team, 'Your son's never made a mistake?' I mean, it happens," Turner says.

He segues into all the great things his little brother has done throughout the years. All the ways he's helped the Coney Island community, all the times he's flown the family out to his Orlando home. He says he still thinks Telfair is one of the best basketball players in the world, but the coaches never let him play his way. He's a scorer, not a distributor, but when you're that young, it's hard to speak up.

"I don't think the problem was ever his game," he says. "I think it was other stuff. People around him, telling him what to do, what he shouldn't do. You know, when you're that young with that much money, it's hard."

He starts shaking his head. Maybe, he says, he should have pushed more. Maybe he should have tried harder to take a lead role in his younger brother's life. It's not that he isn't proud of him, or that he no longer loves him. He is and does. But the thought of Sebastian spending three-and-a-half to 15 years behind bars-what he's facing, per SI.com, if convicted-is just too much. For what it's worth, Telfair's lawyer, Edward Hayes, believes "the legality of the search of the vehicle is very challengeable."

"I'm real worried," Turner says. "We all are. I don't want nothing to happen to him."

He's asked about the guns and drugs. Like Amigo, Jamel Thomas and others interviewed for this story, he says he's never seen Telfair smoke or snort any substance.

"I've never even seen him drink," Turner adds.

The guns? Turner says it's a hobby, like collecting watches, that Telfair has a license and that the weapons are kept locked up and safe, and anyway, the Constitution grants us the right to bear arms, doesn't it? He then points out that Telfair was once robbed (the incident with Fabolous), and he thinks he started carrying guns after that. How they made it to New York, Turner is unsure. He hasn't asked Telfair. Playing detective isn't his job, lending support is. He suspects Telfair just tossed the cases of weapons into his car without thinking.

"He and his wife were going through some marital problems," Turner says. "Say you and your wife are going through it, you throw a whole bunch of stuff in your car and leave."

Telfair and his wife, Samantha, have been together 10 years and married for five. Turner says she's a good woman and even better mother, and that she and Sebastian make a strong couple. As Jamel Thomas points out, upon hearing the news of Telfair's arrest, Samantha immediately hopped on a flight so she could stand by Telfair's side. The issues, both Turner and Jamel Thomas believe, are nothing major, mostly the consequence of Telfair finding himself home and around the house every day for the first time since he was a kid.

Did that send Telfair into some sort of tailspin? Turner doesn't think so. To him, this is all just another example of his baby brother failing to get a break.

"Sebastian doesn't deserve this," he says. "He made some mistakes, he did some messed up things, but I think his good outweighs it."

After about 45 minutes, the conversation comes to an end. The next day, hundreds of kids show up to that same Coney Island street to take part in Telfair's tournament. Turner's there, green bike in hand.

Sebastian never arrives.

Yaron Weitzman covers the NBA for Bleacher Report. All quotes obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted. Follow Yaron on Twitter,@YaronWeitzman, and listen to hisKnicks-themed podcasthere.

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Broken Hoop Dreams: Where Did It Go Wrong for Former Phenom Sebastian Telfair?

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It was about 2:45 in the morning on Sunday, June 11, when officer Christian Valenzuela of the New York Police Department's 77th Precinct noticed the Ford F-150 with Florida plates. The truck was parked illegally, on the concrete median dividing the eastbound and westbound paths of Brooklyn's Atlantic Avenue, right off Classon Avenue.

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Hurricane Harvey has  had 37 deaths in the last few days. a mother whose body was floating about a half mile from her car. Rescuers found her daughter clinging to her body. The child is in stable condition after suffering from hypothermia.

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Harvey aftermath: Houston ‘open for business’; other cities suffering | CNN

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Houston Mayor Sylvester struck optimistic tone late Thursday declaring the “city was open for business,” pointing to signs of recovery.

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Knife-wielding man in Stockholm stabs police officer in neck, officials say. The officer was attacked at 10:30 am in Bjorn's Garden, a small park in Stockholm. The man was arrested and is being held on suspicion of attempted murder.

No other information or pictures were released right away.

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Cavs add second-round pick from Celtics to complete Kyrie Irving-Isaiah Thomas trade.

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The Boston Celtics have agreed to send the Cleveland Cavaliers an additional second-round pick to complete the teams' trade that involves star point guards Kyrie Irving and Isaiah Thomas, league sources say.

The two teams had a deadline of 10 a.m. ET Thursday morning to come to an agreement on a trade that was bogged down concerns about Thomas' hip injury.

Both sides agreed to a deal on Aug. 22 that will send Thomas, Jae Crowder, Ante Zizic, and the Brooklyn Nets unprotected 2018 first-round pick to Cleveland in exchange for Irving.

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Sources: Cavs get 2nd-rounder to ice Kyrie deal

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The Boston Celtics have agreed to send the Cleveland Cavaliers an additional second-round pick to complete the teams' trade that involves star point guards Kyrie Irving and Isaiah Thomas, league sources say. The two teams had a deadline of 10 a.m.

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Officer deputy was shot by gunman, and the gunman harmed two other highway patrolmen. The deputy had been new too.

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Associated Press 6 hrs ago By JONATHAN J. COOPER, Associated Press

SACRAMENTO, Calif. - One law-enforcement officer was killed and two others wounded when a gunman carrying a high-powered rifle shot through the door of his hotel room, then leapt out over a balcony and led police on a brief chase.

He was captured minutes later when he crashed and was wounded by responding officers Wednesday.

Hotel guests were trapped in their rooms for most of the day as police methodically cleared the area and confirmed no other gunmen stayed behind in the hotel room.

Deputy Robert French, a 21-year veteran of the Sacramento County Sheriff's Department, died from a gunshot wound to his side, Sheriff Scott Jones said.

"It was an extremely dynamic, horrific series of events," Jones said.

The day began with a routine investigation by a car-theft task force involving officers from multiple agencies. Investigators suspected a car-theft ring was being run out of a Ramada Inn in an unincorporated neighborhood of Sacramento.

Two women who got into a stolen vehicle were chased for 20 miles before being apprehended in Elk Grove, south of Sacramento. Arresting officers learned they were staying at a room in the Ramada Inn.

When officers knocked on the door, a gunman opened fire through the door and walls, striking two California Highway Patrol officers before turning to the balcony, shooting French, who was outside monitoring the back door, and fleeing.

He was found with a rifle and high-capacity magazine, which are illegal to purchase in California, sheriff's Sgt. Tony Turnbull said.

The names of the wounded officers were not released. Jones said they were taken to a hospital and expected to survive.

Dozens of heavily armed officers from around the region searched the hotel for hours before determining that there were no other suspects inside.

It's unclear why the suspects responded so aggressively when police arrived, Turnbull said.

"Maybe that will come out in the investigation. Maybe we'll never know," Turnbull said. "Either way, it's irrational."

Jeff Marshall, who lives near the hotel, said he heard gunshots and then tires squealing and saw a gray Dodge speed by his home, going the wrong way down a busy street as vehicles and pedestrians scrambled to get out of the way.

"It was like the wild West," Marshall said.

The sheriff described French, 52, as a well-known, well-respected officer assigned to patrol the county's northern areas. He trained new officers and was a "go-to guy for advice and counsel, not just career advice but tactical advice and things like that," Jones said.

French is survived by his live-in girlfriend, adult children and grandchildren and a sister.

"Words aren't going to make an appropriate appreciation of him as a man or his career," Jones said.

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Gunman kills deputy, wounds 2 from California Highway Patrol

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Two women believed to be part of a stolen car ring led California police on a 20-mile chase Wednesday before pointing them to a Sacramento hotel where another suspect opened fire with an assault rifle in a shootout that left one officer dead and two others wounded, authorities said.

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Hurricane Harvey is hitting Houston hard and is doing major damage. The water is up to the highway signs and has no signs of stopping.

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USPS has suspended service at several facilities in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey, the devastating storm that is causing historic flooding across Texas and Louisiana.

Dozens of Post Offices have been affected by Harvey, which made landfall Aug. 25 and was later downgraded to a tropical storm. Some facilities where service was suspended during the weekend have since reopened, after it was deemed safe to do so.

The storm has dumped more than 2 feet of rain in some areas, and another 40-50 inches could fall this week. Federal officials predict the storm will drive 30,000 people into shelters and prompt 450,000 people to seek disaster relief.

"Our employees are making every effort to serve all of our customers affected by this storm," said Southern Area VP Shaun Mossman. "We will continue to deliver mail and packages where we can, but the safety of our employees always comes first."

USPS has posted messages on social media to provide displaced customers with guidance on requesting a temporary change of address. The organization is also contacting shelters to help reconnect storm victims with their mail.

The Postal Service is advising employees in the affected areas to call the USPS national emergency hotline at 888-363-7462 to report their condition and check for changes in their scheduled work reporting status.

The Postal Employees' Relief Fund and Employee Assistance Program are available to help employees who are affected by natural disasters and other emergencies.

Customers who have questions about mail delivery should check the online USPS Service Alerts page. The Postal Service's news release also has information.

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USPS has suspended service at several facilities in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey, the devastating storm that is causing historic flooding across Texas and Louisiana. Dozens of Post Offices have been affected by Harvey, which made landfall Aug. 25 and was later downgraded to a tropical storm.

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Russia has warned the secretary of state Rex Tillerson that talking to North Korea is not a option. Russia does not want to any party to send military. They say it would be "counterproductive and dangerous".

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Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has warned U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson that potential new sanctions against North Korea would be "dangerous."

Lavrov and Tillerson spoke by phone late Wednesday, several hours after U.S. President Donald Trump said on Twitter that "talking is not the answer" when it comes to dealing with North Korea.

Russia's Foreign Ministry said in a read-out of the call late Wednesday that both Lavrov and Tillerson condemned North Korea for firing a midrange ballistic missile Japan earlier this week and called for dialogue.

Lavrov told Tillerson that Russia urges all parties to avoid a military solution to the crisis and added that Moscow views any new potential sanctions against North Korea as "counterproductive and dangerous."

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Russia warns US against news sanctions on North Korea

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Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has warned U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson that potential new sanctions against North Korea would be "dangerous." Lavrov and Tillerson spoke by phone late Wednesday, several hours after U.S. President Donald Trump said on Twitter that "talking is...

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the fda is thrying to shut down mutiple clinicks for using stem cells without fda aprovel.

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Explosions at chemical plant after hurricane Harvey.

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the cause is a spambot caled Onliner based in the netherlinds, sends lagitament looking emals to bypass spam filters.

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More than 711 million email accounts have been exposed as part of a major spamming and malware operation, security researchers are warning.

As ZDNet reports, a researcher who goes by the handle Benkow recently discovered the credentials - including email addresses and associated passwords - on a spambot server hosted in the Netherlands. The spambot, called "Onliner," has been in use since 2016 to spread a banking Trojan called Ursnif, Benkow writes in a blog post.

Also included in the breach are about 80 million simple mail transfer protocol (SMTP) accounts, which "give the spammer a nice range of mail servers to send their messages from," according to security researcher Troy Hunt, who runs the breach notification site Have I Been Pwned, and has been working with Benkow to get the word out about the leak.

As ZDNet explains, those credentials allow the perpetrators to "send what appears to be legitimate email," bypassing spam filters.

Processing the largest list of data ever seen in @haveibeenpwned courtesy of a nasty spambot. I'm in there, you probably are too.

- Troy Hunt (@troyhunt) August 28, 2017

This article originally appeared on PCMag.com.

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Exposed: Massive spambot exposes 711 million email addresses

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More than 711 million email accounts have been exposed as part of a major spamming and malware operation, security researchers are warning. As ZDNet reports, a researcher who goes by the handle Benkow recently discovered the credentials - including email addresses and associated passwords - on a spambot server hosted in the Netherlands.

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Associated Press 6 hrs ago By JONATHAN J. COOPER, Associated Press

SACRAMENTO, Calif. - One law-enforcement officer was killed and two others wounded when a gunman carrying a high-powered rifle shot through the door of his hotel room, then leapt out over a balcony and led police on a brief chase.

He was captured minutes later when he crashed and was wounded by responding officers Wednesday.

Hotel guests were trapped in their rooms for most of the day as police methodically cleared the area and confirmed no other gunmen stayed behind in the hotel room.

Deputy Robert French, a 21-year veteran of the Sacramento County Sheriff's Department, died from a gunshot wound to his side, Sheriff Scott Jones said.

"It was an extremely dynamic, horrific series of events," Jones said.

The day began with a routine investigation by a car-theft task force involving officers from multiple agencies. Investigators suspected a car-theft ring was being run out of a Ramada Inn in an unincorporated neighborhood of Sacramento.

Two women who got into a stolen vehicle were chased for 20 miles before being apprehended in Elk Grove, south of Sacramento. Arresting officers learned they were staying at a room in the Ramada Inn.

When officers knocked on the door, a gunman opened fire through the door and walls, striking two California Highway Patrol officers before turning to the balcony, shooting French, who was outside monitoring the back door, and fleeing.

He was found with a rifle and high-capacity magazine, which are illegal to purchase in California, sheriff's Sgt. Tony Turnbull said.

The names of the wounded officers were not released. Jones said they were taken to a hospital and expected to survive.

Dozens of heavily armed officers from around the region searched the hotel for hours before determining that there were no other suspects inside.

It's unclear why the suspects responded so aggressively when police arrived, Turnbull said.

"Maybe that will come out in the investigation. Maybe we'll never know," Turnbull said. "Either way, it's irrational."

Jeff Marshall, who lives near the hotel, said he heard gunshots and then tires squealing and saw a gray Dodge speed by his home, going the wrong way down a busy street as vehicles and pedestrians scrambled to get out of the way.

"It was like the wild West," Marshall said.

The sheriff described French, 52, as a well-known, well-respected officer assigned to patrol the county's northern areas. He trained new officers and was a "go-to guy for advice and counsel, not just career advice but tactical advice and things like that," Jones said.

French is survived by his live-in girlfriend, adult children and grandchildren and a sister.

"Words aren't going to make an appropriate appreciation of him as a man or his career," Jones said.

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Gunman kills deputy, wounds 2 from California Highway Patrol

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Two women believed to be part of a stolen car ring led California police on a 20-mile chase Wednesday before pointing them to a Sacramento hotel where another suspect opened fire with an assault rifle in a shootout that left one officer dead and two others wounded, authorities said.

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The Pentagon announced there are about 11,000 U.S. troops in Afghanistan but much higher than the previously reported 8,400 figure used since last July. The Chief Pentagon Spokesperson Diana White has announced the change in accounting during the press briefing saying the increased transparency to better include those troops who are on temp. missions in the country.

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The Pentagon announced there are actually about 11,000 U.S. troops in Afghanistan, much higher than the previously reported 8,400 figure used since last July.

Chief Pentagon spokesperson Dana White and Joint Staff Director Lt. Gen. Kenneth "Frank" McKenzie Jr. announced the change in accounting during a Pentagon press briefing, saying Defense Secretary James Mattis desired increased transparency to better include those troops who are on temporary missions in the country.

White said that by announcing these new numbers the Pentagon can be more transparent about the way they communicate America's commitment in Afghanistan.

"These changes will help us enhance the trust the public has placed in the department," she added.

Announcing an approximate troop number also allows the Pentagon to deploy whole military units, instead of ones "fragmented in order to meet an arbitrary force management level," McKenzie said.

He said the department weighed "first, openness and transparency with the American people and with our allies, and second, avoiding provision of aid and comfort to the enemy by telegraphing our military capabilities and operations."

But he warned the 11,000 figure is still "an approximation" and does not include future adjustments or unit turnover -- including the additional troops that Mattis will send to Afghanistan as part of the president's new South Asia strategy announced last week.

Mattis has supported sending an additional 3,900 troops to Afghanistan, but since the president's strategy announcement and this new accounting figure of 11,000, the defense secretary has gone back to the Joint Chiefs of Staff asking for revised troop level recommendations.

"If the number changes significantly, we will come back in here to tell you that," McKenzie said, adding "no deployment orders have been issued" yet.

White said Mattis made the decision to reexamine the Pentagon's accounting practices of U.S. troops himself.

President Trump has continuously argued against communicating exact troop numbers and movements, saying such announcements broadcast valuable information to America's enemies. When asked if President Trump was part of the decision to review the figure of U.S. troops on the ground, White would only say that the secretary and president speak frequently.

The Pentagon is currently reviewing exact troop levels in Iraq and Syria, but has not said when those revised figures could be announced.

"We'll give you an answer when we have them," White said, adding, "The same principles will guide that accounting as well."

Officially, there are approximately 5,000 U.S. troops in Iraq and 500 in Syria, but like in Afghanistan, those numbers are likely higher and will be disclosed later as the new accounting practices are put in place.

"In both theaters, eventually we'll apply the same two pillars: balancing transparency of reporting with a requirement to protect the forces on the ground and give the commander maximum operational flexibility," McKenzie said. "Those numbers will be forthcoming."

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Pentagon says there are 2,600 more troops in Afghanistan than previously reported

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The Pentagon announced there are actually about 11,000 U.S. troops in Afghanistan, much higher than the previously reported 8,400 figure used since last July. Chief Pentagon spokesperson Dana White and Joint Staff Director Lt. Gen. Kenneth "Frank" McKenzie Jr. announced the change in accounting...

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President Trump visits Springfield Missouri to talk about taxes. He picked Springfield because it's where he had the most votes in Missouri.

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SPRINGFIELD, MO. - Springfield's going to be in the national spotlight next week when President Donald Trump visits to talk about taxes.

"Tax reform is one of the top items on the agenda of both President Trump and the Republican Party, and the White House wants to use this speech to focus attention on this effort," said Dave Robertson, a professor of political science at the University of Missouri-St. Louis.

Specific details on what Trump might say about taxes have been scarce, but there's another question to address before the president speaks Wednesday: Why Springfield?

The political demographics of the region make it a favorable destination. Trump carried the state easily in November, garnering half a million more votes than Democratic challenger Hillary Clinton.

In Greene County, Trump won with 60 percent of the vote - a slightly larger margin than across the rest of the state. His margins were even higher in the rural areas surrounding Springfield.

"We're a big stronghold down here in the 7th (Congressional) District, got him a lot of votes," said Danette Proctor, chairwoman of the Greene County Republican Central Committee. She also noted it was "pretty cool" that Trump's visit would come almost exactly a year after Vice President Mike Pence, then a candidate, held a rally in downtown Springfield.

This aligns with what several professors who study politics told the News-Leader as they pointed to several other reasons why Trump might feel comfortable starting a tax reform push in Springfield.

"Trump has support in Missouri and especially in the southwest corner," said Elisabeth Dudash-Buskirk, a socio-political communication professor at Missouri State University. "He wants to kick off somewhere to draw attention to the lower economic classes, working classes, farmers, hard workers, but (also) somewhere he is liked, especially for a new tax policy."

Continuing on this line, Dudash-Buskirk described the visit as a way for Trump to spend time in America's heartland. "A good bit of his time in the coal mining areas, the steel workers, the auto workers, may have suggested his farmers (and) heartland workers feel forgotten and he wants to reconnect."

As University of Missouri-Columbia professor Peverill Squire noted, Trump "is likely to face a friendly audience" in Springfield.

Dudash-Buskirk also said Trump may consider the visit a thank-you of sorts for having MSU's chorale sing at his inauguration in January and might want to show an affinity for fellow Republicans Sen. Roy Blunt and Gov. Eric Greitens, who won their respective races with narrower margins than Trump's victory in Missouri.

Dan Ponder, a professor of political science at Drury University, also noted that this corner of Missouri is "heavily Republican" and "it would not do" for Trump to go to St. Louis or Kansas City - bigger cities, but Democratic hotbeds.

Trump's last campaign-style rally was earlier this week in Phoenix. The president was met with a friendly crowd inside an arena and protesters in the streets outside.

Springfield's smaller size might have worked to its favor, Dudash-Buskirk said. Picking the third-largest city in Missouri could come as a surprise and draw more attention to his message and "allow for great security."

"It will be easy to control crowds here," she said, because "it is a smaller city than most, but will draw attention because it is a kick-off and a lot of people will ask, 'Why Springfield, Missouri?'"

In addition to the Springfield area being mostly red, Ponder said, "St. Louis and K.C. might be less hospitable to Trump."

He referenced the possibility of unfavorable Trump-related press regarding the unrest in Ferguson in 2014 and the more recent violence in Charlottesville, Virginia.

"Plus with race on everyone's mind, my guess is he does not want to go near Ferguson lest it meet with hardcore resistance on a larger scale," Ponder continued. "Many in this area are critical of his response to Charlottesville, but (Springfield) is not quite as large and certainly more conservative."

Missouri as a whole has voted more conservatively in recent years, leading to what many see as a difficult time ahead for U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill, a Democrat.

Proctor, a local GOP leader, said she thought Trump "could help out in the McCaskill race and energize the base" while Republican candidates jockey to replace McCaskill, who is seeking her third term.

Robertson, the UMSL professor, said there was precedent for a presidential visit such as Trump coming to Springfield leading up to a midterm election such as the 2018 race.

"Other presidents push their agendas and the election of their allies in the months preceding an off-year election," Robertson said. "Presidents Reagan (1986) and George W. Bush (2002) both visited Springfield in support of Republican Senate candidates."

Bush spoke at what was then Southwest Missouri State University in 2002 to support former U.S. Sen. Jim Talent, R-Missouri. The 43rd president stumped for Talent again in 2006.

The Springfield speech signals that Trump wants Republicans in Congress to move on after they failed to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act and switch tactics to tackle taxes.

"I assume the GOP members of the state congressional delegation would be supportive of whatever sort of tax package might eventually emerge, so (Trump) doesn't need to persuade them," said Squire, the Mizzou professor. "He might hope to pressure Sen. McCaskill on taxes, but in the absence of any actual legislation to tout, that probably won't work. Consequently, it is not clear what the administration hopes to accomplish with this visit."

© Gannett Co., Inc. 2017. All Rights Reserved

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Why did President Trump pick Springfield?

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SPRINGFIELD, MO. - Springfield's going to be in the national spotlight next week when President Donald Trump visits to talk about taxes. "Tax reform is one of the top items on the agenda of both President Trump and the Republican Party, and the White House wants to use this speech to focus attention on this effort," said Dave Robertson, a professor of political science at the University of Missouri-St.

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in Georgia a police officer said we only kill black people this incident happend july 2016 but was just now brought to light

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A lieutenant from a police department in Georgia is under investigation after a dash-cam video obtained by Channel 2 Action News appears to show the officer telling a driver during a DUI stop, "Remember, we only kill black people."

Lt. Greg Abbott of the Cobb County Police Department reportedly asked the driver to grab her cell phone, but she replied she's afraid to move her hands because she has "just seen way too many videos of cops..."

Abbot responds, "But, you're not black. Remember, we only shoot black people. We only kill black people, right? All the videos you've seen, have you seen the black people get killed?"

The incident occurred in July 2016, and it was brought to light on Wednesday after Channel 2 Action News' open-records request on Friday.

Police Chief Mike Register said Abbot has been placed on administrative duties until the investigation is complete.

Lance LoRusso, Abbott's attorney, told the station in a statement that the 28-year veteran is cooperating with the investigation, and that "his comments must be observed in their totality to understand their context."

"He was attempting to de-escalate a situation involving an uncooperative passenger. In context, his comments were clearly aimed at attempting to gain compliance by using the passenger's own statements and reasoning to avoid making an arrest," said LoRusso.

Suri Chadha Jimenez, a representative of the driver, said she believes the officer's response was sarcastic because the woman, "gave him some lip," but nonetheless said, "it makes you cringe when you hear it. It's unacceptable."

Register, who was not police chief during the time of the occurence, told Channel 2 that Abbott was a good officer and never had any racial complaints. He added "no matter what context it was said, it shouldn't have been said," and that it is being dealt with "head-on."

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Georgia police officer at DUI stop: 'We only kill black people'

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A lieutenant from a police department in Georgia is under investigation after a dash-cam video obtained by Channel 2 Action News appears to show the officer telling a driver during a DUI stop, "Remember, we only kill black people." Lt.

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A Sacramento County Sheriff's deputy was killed Wednesday and two California Highway Patrol officers were injured in a shooting at a Sacramento hotel. They believed it to be the headquarters of a car theft ring.

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A Sacramento County Sheriff's deputy was killed Wednesday and two California Highway Patrol officers were injured in a shooting at a Sacramento hotel, and guests were urged to shelter in place as investigators hunted for additional suspects.

Deputy Robert French, 52, was killed in the shooting at a Ramada Inn at around noon local time, Sacramento County Sheriff Scott Jones said. He added that the two CHP officers were expected to survive.

Jones described French as a "well-respected" 21-year veteran of the department. The sheriff added that French is survived by his children, grandchildren and girlfriend.

Dozens of police cars and hundreds of armed officers have surrounded the hotel, where authorities said there may be two more suspects inside.

Sacramento County Sheriff's Department spokesman Tony Turnbull said all three officers were part of a task force investigating a stolen vehicle case and had come across the missing car in the parking lot of a Ramada Inn.

Turnbull said two women in the stolen vehicle led the officers on a chase that ended in suburban Elk Grove, where they were arrested. When the officers went back to the Ramada Inn and knocked on the door to one of the rooms, Turnbull said a male suspect opened fire on them with a "high-powered rifle," injuring the two CHP officers.

The man then ran out onto the balcony, where he traded fire with sheriff's deputies and shot Deputy French. The suspect then led police on a brief chase before he was injured in another exchange of gunfire and taken into custody.

Jeff Marshall, who lives near the hotel, said he heard gunshots and then tires squealing and saw a grey Dodge Charger speed by his home, going the wrong way down a busy street.

Marshall estimated he heard 12 shots.

"It was like the wild West," Marshall said.
Click for more from Fox40.com. The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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California deputy killed at hotel, guests urged to shelter in place amid search for suspects

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A Sacramento County Sheriff's deputy was killed Wednesday and two California Highway Patrol officers were injured in a shooting at a Sacramento hotel, and guests were urged to shelter in place as investigators hunted for additional suspects. Deputy Robert French, 52, was killed in the shooting at a Ramada Inn at around noon local time, Sacramento County Sheriff Scott Jones said.

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A lower-cost, more adaptable robot arm will make keyhole surgery safer and more efficient.

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A lower-cost, more adaptable robot arm will make keyhole surgery safer and more efficient.

U.K. engineers have developed a miniature keyhole surgery robot arm, which is able to carry out a range of minimally invasive laparoscopic operations including hernia repairs, colorectal operations, prostate surgery, and more. While robots are already used for keyhole surgery, the Versius is a third the size of the robots which are currently used - and significantly cheaper, too.

"Versius is CMR's first surgical robot and will be the smallest the world has ever seen," Martin Frost, CEO of manufacturer Cambridge Medical Robotics, told Digital Trends. "The robot's remarkable dexterity, flexibility, and reach means that it can carry out more procedures more easily than any existing robot on the market. Its flexibility, together with its portability, means Versius is designed to be kept constantly busy, improving outcomes for patients and offering a more cost effective solution for health systems."

Versius is around 2-foot-by-2-foot in size and its creators claim will cost less than half the price of the $2.6 million robots currently used to carry out keyhole surgery.

The robot is modelled after a human arm, with the arm and wrist articulations necessary to provide maximum flexibility to surgeons during a procedure. It is controlled by a surgeon, who can guide the robot during an operation on a separate 3D high-resolution display, located in the operating theater. The resulting ease of use means a reduction in the physical and mental strain placed on the surgeon, allowing them to more quickly and safely carry out procedures on patients.

"Versius will launch in Europe next year, following in other markets around the world shortly after," Frost continued. "Five years from now, we hope to be one of the largest surgical robot companies internationally with a robot in every major hospital." Global annual revenue for robot-assisted minimal access surgery is currently approximately $4 billion. It is expected to hit $20 billion by 2025.

Between this surgical robot, robotic cleaners in hospitals, and miniature injectable robots designed to carry out complex internal surgery, it is enough to get you pondering whether there are going to be any humans left in the hospital of 2030! With the exception of patients, of course.

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This miniature robot arm could be the future of keyhole surgery

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A lower-cost, more adaptable robot arm will make keyhole surgery safer and more efficient. U.K. engineers have developed a miniature keyhole surgery robot arm, which is able to carry out a range of minimally invasive laparoscopic operations including hernia repairs, colorectal operations, prostate surgery, and more.

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An officer is under investigation because at a DUI stop a lady wouldn't remove her hands because she was to scared after watching all of the black people getting killed by cops and the cop replied "we only kill black people".

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A lieutenant from a police department in Georgia is under investigation after a dash-cam video obtained by Channel 2 Action News appears to show the officer telling a driver during a DUI stop, "Remember, we only kill black people."

Lt. Greg Abbott of the Cobb County Police Department reportedly asked the driver to grab her cell phone, but she replied she's afraid to move her hands because she has "just seen way too many videos of cops..."

Abbot responds, "But, you're not black. Remember, we only shoot black people. We only kill black people, right? All the videos you've seen, have you seen the black people get killed?"

The incident occurred in July 2016, and it was brought to light on Wednesday after Channel 2 Action News' open-records request on Friday.

Police Chief Mike Register said Abbot has been placed on administrative duties until the investigation is complete.

Lance LoRusso, Abbott's attorney, told the station in a statement that the 28-year veteran is cooperating with the investigation, and that "his comments must be observed in their totality to understand their context."

"He was attempting to de-escalate a situation involving an uncooperative passenger. In context, his comments were clearly aimed at attempting to gain compliance by using the passenger's own statements and reasoning to avoid making an arrest," said LoRusso.

Suri Chadha Jimenez, a representative of the driver, said she believes the officer's response was sarcastic because the woman, "gave him some lip," but nonetheless said, "it makes you cringe when you hear it. It's unacceptable."

Register, who was not police chief during the time of the occurence, told Channel 2 that Abbott was a good officer and never had any racial complaints. He added "no matter what context it was said, it shouldn't have been said," and that it is being dealt with "head-on."

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Georgia police officer at DUI stop: 'We only kill black people'

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A lieutenant from a police department in Georgia is under investigation after a dash-cam video obtained by Channel 2 Action News appears to show the officer telling a driver during a DUI stop, "Remember, we only kill black people." Lt.

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Across the state are still finding missing relatives since the category 4 hurricane hit. There also has been 37 people dead in the state of Texas, related to hurricane Harvey. "The worst is not over yet" said "gov of Texas

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Harvey aftermath: Houston ‘open for business’; other cities suffering | CNN

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Houston Mayor Sylvester struck optimistic tone late Thursday declaring the “city was open for business,” pointing to signs of recovery.

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Hurricane Harvey has separated a lot of pets from their owners. There has been a lot of rescues for animals. Its not only pets that are trying to survive, its also insects, and other wild animals.

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Disney is hosting the day of giving for the damage that hurricane Harvey did to taxes and help people that need medical attention and rescuing. Rascal Flatts is performing "I Won't Let Go" to all of the people that are in trouble in hurricane Harvey.

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After Hurricane Harvey tore through southeastern Texas earlier this week -- killing at least 19 people, displacing thousands and destroying tens of thousands of homes -- much of the region is still reeling and left in dire need of assistance as people begin to rebuild their lives and communities in wake of the harrowing storm.

As the full scope of the devastation continues to come into focus, stories of remarkable heroism, courage and community have begun to emerge, giving hope to those affected by the catastrophic flooding.

On Thursday, Disney, the parent company of ABC News, is hosting a Day of Giving across ABC, Freeform, Radio Disney, and all digital and social platforms, calling on everyone who wants to help support in the massive relief efforts needed to donate to the American Red Cross's Harvey recovery fund. One hundred percent of the proceeds raised during the Day of Giving will go to the American Red Cross for recovery efforts in areas devastated by Harvey.

" Good Morning America" will host a telethon starting early Thursday morning to encourage donations, featuring celebrity guests. The country music group Rascal Flatts will also perform their inspirational song "I Won't Let Go," in tribute to Harvey victims.

The Walt Disney Company and ABC station KTRK in Houston jointly pledged a $1 million cash commitment to the American Red Cross in support of humanitarian efforts for communities affected by Hurricane Harvey.

"We know thousands of people have lost everything and now face the daunting challenge of putting their lives and communities back together, and we're using our unique resources and reach to help those in need," Robert A. Iger, the chairman and CEO of The Walt Disney Company, said in a statement announcing the Day of Giving.

Take part in Disney's Day of Giving: To support people impacted by Hurricane Harvey, call 1-855-999-GIVE, donate at www.RedCross.org/ABC or text "HARVEY" to 90999 to make a $10 donation.

The latest ABC News Hurricane Harvey coverage:

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ABC, 'GMA' take part in Day of Giving to benefit Hurricane Harvey relief efforts

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After Hurricane Harvey tore through southeastern Texas earlier this week -- killing at least 19 people, displacing thousands and destroying tens of thousands of homes -- much of the region is still reeling and left in dire need of assistance as people begin to rebuild their lives and communities in wake of the harrowing storm.